Dr. Jeane Anastas Awarded Fulbright Specialist Fellowship to Meghalaya, India

NYU Silver Professor Jeane Anastas has been awarded a Fulbright Specialist Program grant to strengthen social work education in Meghalaya, India.

Part of the larger Fulbright Program, the Fulbright Specialist Program was established by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to fund short-term consultations by highly qualified U.S. scholars and professionals at universities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other institutions abroad.

Dr. Anastas’ grant will fund a 20-day visit to the University of Science and Technology in Meghalaya (USTM) in March 2018. There she will assist the Department of Social Work with curriculum development, consult on sustaining emerging NGOs as field education sites, and provide faculty workshops on effective teaching methods and writing for publication in international journals.

Dr. Anastas is a well-established authority in social work education, practice, and research with more than 30 years of experience as an educator and organizational leader in the field. A past president of the National Association of Social Workers and recipient of the organization’s 2015 Social Work Pioneer© award, she is the Oxford University Press’ U.S. Delegate for Social Work. She was first selected for the Fulbright Specialist Program Roster in 2005.

The northeastern mountainous state of Meghalaya was founded in 1972 when indigenous peoples, then part of Assam, were permitted to form their own state to preserve such local traditions as matrilineal households, female property ownership, and self-government. The social work program at USTM aspires to indigenize social work education within its unique social and cultural context, to provide high quality undergraduate and graduate social work education including field internships, and to provide faculty development resources to assist the program in reaching its highest potential.

Dr. Anastas said, “I look forward to collaborating with USTM social work faculty and administrators to help them realize their aspiration of developing a high quality social work program that meets international standards. I also expect to learn a great deal as I visit the new community-based programs they have developed for field placements while providing much-needed services to women, children and the elderly.”